As promised, here are some photos of our days in the Bahamas (June 8 – 20, 2013)
MAYAGUANA ISLAND, BAHAMAS (June 7-8)
Paul went ashore to clear customs. Only the captain is permitted ashore until this is done.
Night sail to long island (June 9)
CLARENCE TOWN, LONG ISLAND, BAHAMAS (June 10-11th)
Note the ruins behind, and the no trespassing sign. There was so much forest in that house, you couldn’t have trespassed if you wanted to.SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church 1946A view of our boat in the bayThis dog was protecting the goats next door to the store
Night sail Long Island to Cat Island (June 12)
CAT ISLAND, BAHAMAS (June 13)
One of many ruins we saw on Cat IslandArt on Ruins
LITTLE SAN SALVADOR ISLAND, BAHAMAS (June 14th)
Beautiful white sand beaches, but we did not go ashore here.Popular day stop for cruise ships. This one left a 5pm, the next one arrived as we were leaving around 9am the next day.
ELEUTHERA ISLAND, BAHAMAS (June 15-17)
Two stops: Governors Harbor (no photos, did not go ashore) and Spanish Wells
Passing the point to get to the deeper water to enter the bay. This island took days to get from one end to the other.Tried to capture how clear and blue the water was.Walking about at Spanish Wells where the main mode of transport is on a golf cart
GREAT HARBOUR CAY, BAHAMAS (June 19th)
No photos, did not go ashore
Night sail June 20th
WEST END, GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND (June 21)
Fuel stop and reported our departure to customs
Departing the Bahamas .. we’ll definitely be back for much longer next time
After 27 days on the water, we arrived in Annapolis June 27th around 3:30 in the afternoon. We would have arrived about 12 hours sooner, but had to find safe harbour from a storm on our last night of sailing, so put up the Q flag and headed for the nearest bay. Safe harbour took us 2 hours off route, that‘s a drag. Speaking of a drag, as we arrived to “safe harbour” we put down the anchor only minutes before the driving rain hit, and had to start the motors back up as we watched our anchor app tell us we had dragged 80 meters. Once the initial storm passed over I headed back to the bow, pulled up the anchor and reset it. Again more rain and more dragging. Arghhh. The rain was not letting up and darkness was falling, so I headed out in the rain. Three times and finally got it set good and proper. No sooner had we done that and the storm completely stopped and we sat in the calmest of water. No way to get through all the crab traps in the dark, so we were forced to sleep until morning. What a treat to have a solid 7 hours of sleep after 6 days and nights of solid sailing.
We arrived in Annapolis and had more fun (not) getting ourselves tied to a mooring ball so that we could clear in. We called in to customs only to find out that the internet was wrong in stating that you could clear in at the city dock. We now have to rent a car and drive to Baltimore (an hour away) to go through immigration and the clear customs. Both of these have to be done in two separate locations. Given our arrival time this will be done on Friday. We’ve secured a rental car and will head ashore with our paperwork shortly.
Looking forward to getting this done so we can buy some fresh produce. Enough of the canned tomatoes and sauerkraut. We celebrate the fact that we sailed from the BVI to here, just the two of us. We did it. Does that mean we are now doners? Yes siree, it does. We’ve gone from dreamers, to doers, to doners. And you better belive that we’ll be doing it again as soon as hurricane season is past. For now we will ready ourselves to return to Canada so P can finish his job and provide knowledge transfer to his replacement. Then we head to Burlington NC to visit Paul’s mom and help her settle into a new assisted living apartment. Somewhere in all of this Gwyn will drive the car to get Charlie and bring the rest of our gear to the boat. We’ll figure out what to do with the car after that.
Amazing rainbow after a downpour in the Annapolis harbour
We started the passage on June 20th in the afternoon. The gulf stream gave us some nice push. Last night there was little wind and a fighting current, so we motored all night. Nice to have the sails up again today.
Just rounded Capr Hatteras off North Carolina and found we have internet access. We are still another 2+ days away from the marina in Maryland, where Blue Sky will stay forthe next few months while we get her set for more open ocean. We‘ve missed having radar and some other things that can help with a safe passage. So far we‘ve experienced some thunder storms, luckily without the lightening being too close. Believe me I pray those bolts stay away from us each time I see them. So far so good. Tomorrow we”ll be getting to the mouth of the Chesapeake. Night sailing isn’t too bad. We do three hour shifts. I am looking forward to my next full 8 hour sleep.
I hope to update the rest of the passage in more detail along with some pictures when we get settled in the marina.
Passanger along the wayToday’s angel card said watch for signs .. we had 5 dragon flies join us with 2 hours, then the storm warning came on the VHF.. safe harbour here we come
We are still making our way through the beautiful islands in the Bahamas. We could leave tomorrow and be in Fort Lauderdale by Friday, but we do want to visit two more islands along the way. So maybe we‘ll leave on Friday or Sunday. That‘s how it is when you are out here. Decisions are made when they feel right, and when the winds and weather dictate it is a good time. Meanwhile we are exploring, swimming, snorkling, and reading. Today we secured some internet for the rest of our time in the Bahamas. The people we meet are fantastic. While on Cat Island a woman and her 3 kids offered us a ride from the store back to our dinghy. Given it was well over a mile in 33 degre heat, we accepted. The girls were near the ages of our grandaughters, 9 and 13. We showed them pics of the girls and then their shyness went away. How fun is that. Today a guy in a golf cart offered us a ride. We declined as we wanted to see more of thw island and stretch our legs. Main mode of transport here in Spanish Banks is via golf cart. Everyone waves to you too. Never waved so much in all my life.
Since the boat is not updated yet our communications are sparse. After a successful 95 hour sail to Mayaguana, we arrived on Bahamas labor day, surprise! So clearing in took the better part of a day. Then another overnight off to Clarence town on Long Island. Great anchorage. Finally got internet connection so a brief update. Took the day to relax and snorkel and walk on a pure white sand beach. Then off to town for a walk to the grocery store so to speak. Ended back at the small pub to get the internet and this update, not to mention a glass of wine. First time off the boat in 7 days for Gwyn! Tomorrow it is off to Cat Island then to Florida or points north depending on the weather. We are starting to feel like veteran overnight sailors with the seas having run 7 to 10 feet this past week. More details and pics as internet connections improve.